Step 2: Make your pie crusts

Cut in the shortening with a pastry cutter or fork until it looks crumbled.

Drizzle water, two tablespoons at a time over mixture, using a fork to get the dough wet. Once the dough is damp through and through, stop adding water! I usually end up using about 7-8 tablespoons of water.

DO NOT KNEAD!

Above - Pie ready to bake

Step 3: Assemble & bake your pies

Divide your dough into 16 small balls of dough.

Roll each ball of dough flat and large enough so it fits in your pie plate.

Place a bottom crust into each pie plate.

Fill each with chicken/veggie mixture.

Place your top pie crust on top, squeeze the top and bottom crusts together and flute or use a fork for the border.

Cut little slits in the top of each pie.

Place little pies on a foil or parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 375°F bake for 30-35 minutes.

Step 4: Serve

Allow pies to cool a bit, then use oven mitts to place on plates. Warn everyone because the little pie plates will still be very hot. I served these withbroccoliand fruit on the side.

Above - Leftover pie slice heated up the next day.

Thoughts

This was the best pot pie recipe I've ever made, vegan or otherwise. It's better than my old favorite veggie pie even. I served these to 2 vegans, 2 vegetarians and 3 heavy meat eaters and all of them loved them.

The teenage meat eater I served this to said, "If you hadn't of told me, I would have had no idea that these were vegan." Even my extremely picky son ate some of his pot pie and liked it, and we're talking about a kid who 99% of the time refuses to eat mixed dishes (casseroles, veggies with sauce, etc).

The reason I made these was because my newly vegan friend missed his frozen pot pies - the cheap little Banquet ones. He hates the Amy Pot Pies, claiming that they're too big and not plain enough. These homemade pies turned out almost just like those tiny frozen pies, but had a MUCH better broth.

In the original recipe, it called for puff pastry on top vs. regular pie crusts. I felt like I wouldn't be able to freeze the extras as easily, also vegan pie crust is easy while vegan puff pasty is not so easy, but you can try this with a vegan puff pastry topper if you like.

Also, for how much this recipe made, it was insanely inexpensive. You can make a whole bunch of mini pies on the cheap!

Leftovers

I made this recipe + 1/2 because I was worried I wouldn't have enough for my dinner party. In the end that was too much, so we had leftover filling and also one leftover 9 inch pie. The next day I heated a slice of the leftover pie in the microwave and it was still awesome.

The leftover filling had thickened, as it would from being kept in the fridge, so I heated it up, made a new batch of pie dough and whipped out some extra mini pies to keep in the freezer. Now we can just pull one out for a quick lunch.